They Lied (Liar Duology #1)

Chapter 15 / Olivia

Winner of The Best Guesser Award = cloudsofstars

Her guess = Esmeralda

Check out Breaking Grey, her book. It's amazing!

"Mom, you look dreadful! Wait," said Sabrina, and I turned around.

She looked at me from head-to-toe, and I squirmed slightly under her gaze. She surveyed the bright teal dress I had bought before I found out I was a goddess, and the black heels which complemented my hair – which was in my classic no-nonsense bun. Going out was no excuse to primp my hair.

"What happened, Bree?" I asked, hands on my hips, my bag swinging as I turned.

"You look terrible for a woman going out to meet someone for the first time," she replied, looking at me interrogatively, although I had no doubt, she had all the information she wanted.

"What should I do?" I asked, defensively crossing my arms.

She wordlessly approached me before taking a few bobby pins out of my hair, letting in fall in waves over my shoulders, and twisted a few strands away from my face before replacing the pins. She walked to the door and brought a pair of strappy gold heels and put them before me. As I slipped them on, she had unclasped a gold locket from around her neck – one that I had worn many years ago, but no longer with its power suppressing ability – and clasped it around mine.

"There," she said, surveying me proudly, "Done."

"So, you don't have any problem with me going out, right?" I asked, feeling as if there was something, she was hiding from me.

"Granny Bree, Grandpa Nate, and Great-Aunt Pet are coming over to meet me and Atticus, and I've called my friends over. I'll be fine, mom," she said, staring at me kindly with her grey eyes, "And, don't worry. You'll be fine too. Have fun!"

"Which friends?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously, but smiling.

"Eliza and Bex are coming over," she replied, counting on her fingers, "And, Jake and Matt are coming, too."

"Are you sure there's no one else?" I asked conspiratorially.

"Nope," she replied, popping the p, "Connor is at the door, he'll ring... Now," she said, and true to her word, the ding-dong of the bell reverberated in the hall.

"How did you know his name's Connor?" I asked, but she simply ran to the door to open it. "Sabrina Atlas Mason-Matthews, you come here right now!" I said, but she didn't listen, opening the door.

Saved by the bell.

"Mom! Someone's asking for you!" she called from the door, as if we both didn't already know who it was.

"Coming!" I replied, deciding someone was going to be in some major trouble when I was back.

***

The flowers looked gorgeous, the dinner was splendid, but something was very wrong.

I was with a totally different man.

"So, Connor," I said, as we walked out of the dinner place, "Why did you call me here? We've eaten, you've paid, and we have exchanged... what? Ten words at the max. Who are you really? And why did you invite me for dinner?"

"You see, Via," he said in his deep voice, and I was transported back to the time when I first met Atlas, and he was trying to explain to me about Acacia. Well, the first time in this lifetime, at least. "I saw you the first time in Skyville High. I knew there were two others like me. You, and Atlas. Now, you're throwing away your potential for Queen for what? For a dead man? You need to move on, Via!"

My blood boiled and my face tinged with pink as I clenched my fists, "How dare you?! I lost my husband, I have two children, and I don't want anyone more to die. What else could I have done?"

"You could have fought. You could have fought again, and again, and again, until the evil is finally defeated," he said, looking unfazed at my anger.

"Don't you see? The evil is never defeated. First Akantha came along, then Esmeralda, then somebody else. I'm not going to spend my lifetime warding off evil if people are killed!"

"You know how ridiculous you sound? I'm going to try and protect my family and friends by letting the evil take over," he said, in a mock accent, "How thick can you be?"

"I don't have any powers, okay? My powers stopped working when Atlas died," I said, my voice cracking.

"Maybe he didn't die, Via! Maybe he's still here, somewhere, and you just need to know where to look," he said, softening his voice.

"It's been too long, Connor. If he was alive, he would have come to search for me. He loved me, you know," I retorted, the words difficult to form because I didn't want them to be true, at all.

"I know," he muttered, running his hands through his blondish-brown dreadlocks, "Okay, topic change. How about you do one thing. You try your powers. If it works, good for you, if it doesn't, too bad."

"It's not going to..." I said, but he took my wrist and touched my finger on the nearest tree, and frost began to criss-cross over it.

"Connor, what have you done?" I asked in horror, looking at my hands and then the tree.

"I have reawakened Queen Mason," he replied, and I took my hand back. He rubbed his red cheek and said, "Ow. Why'd you have to slap me?"

"I'm not becoming Queen and that is final," I said, with conviction, and I hoped that Connor didn't notice how my voice quivered.

"What if you find your knight in shining armor?" he asked, pointedly.

"I did, and he died. Good night, Connor."

Hope you sleep tight. Actually, I take that back. Hope you have the worst next few days in the history of worst days.

Everyone feels the pain they inflict on others. Karma works, and for a good reason. My Karmic payback was coming, and I had to meet it when it did.

But, it would be totally worth it if Connor Abernathy got what he deserved.